Spring is Teasing Me and I Don't Like It!

Yesterday it was hard to believe it was the second day of March. The sun was shining, birds were singing, gnats were swarming, and everywhere you felt the anticipation Spring always brings to our little corner of the South. The high was nearing 70, and all seemed right in the universe.

Yeah, right.

Today, again, it is cold, rainy, windy, and we are under a freeze warning for tonight. So much for Spring, Winter is not going gently into that good night. Instead, it seems bound and determined to hold on until the last possible moment, guaranteeing no early planting or easy weather.

That's right, folks, it's tornado season down here in the land of the Boiled Peanut.

I've lived through hurricanes, him-a-canes, snow-canes, and more but the thought of tornado season always fills me with dread. They strike anywhere and at anytime. It's like waiting for your mother-in-law to show up with her crazy sister to set up residence in your basement. I would rather face two Katrina's than one tornado. But that's just me.

I will sleep with one ear tuned to the weather radio, waiting for that annoying blast of the tornado siren to send us all downstairs to the laundry room (our only windowless room). Until the winds blow constantly from the south and the cold weather and snow are only distant memories, I will keep a weather eye on the horizon and stay close to shore in case of emergencies.

After all, it's only 110 more days until summer!

Racing Full Speed in to Fall

When Labor Day is over I always feel a sense of sadness. Summer, as far as I am concerned, is over and it is time to start the race through fall. Between horse shows, football, festivals and school every day and every weekend is packed to the rim with activities. The days begin getting shorter, the evenings cooler and my power bill goes down. Positive and negatives balancing their order in the universe.

Fall is my favorite season and not just because it's the season of my birthday. In fall, the air seems cleaner and the blue of the sky is bright enough to blind you. The crunch of newly fallen leaves under the horses' hooves as we trample through the forest on trail rides is soothing to my heart and soul. Watching the turn of summer into the dying embers of fall, a reminder of our limited time of this earth.

Memories of Friday night football games mix with after game dances in the high school gym as I wander the many long ago falls of my youth. They are followed by Saturday morning's of raking yards and burning leaves, along with hay rides, pumpkin patches, and bonfires. A simpler childhood, uncomplicated by electronic devices of all nature. How I have often longed for my children to have that same peace we enjoyed so many years ago.

Not too long ago our girl scout troop went to a corn maze during Halloween. The girls spent hours chasing each other around through the dying corn stalks, laughing ,shrieking at times, as each met with others in the 20 acre maze. Afterwards we all drank hot apple cider and sat around the bonfire roasting marshmallows to make s'mores.  As the hour grew later, the camp songs started and soon even strangers were singing along with us.

The simpler things in life bring us together, remind us we are a community of like minded Americans. They make the harshness of the conflicts around the world seem far away. I know that sounds horrible, but don't we all need a little escapism every now and then?

Oh...
BTW - the helpful hubby is turning 50 this weekend, so I'll be back on Monday with a preview of my first contemporary romance, January Frost, due out this fall from Keith Publishing.  Stop by and check it out!

Winter Storms

I noticed on the Weather Channel the other night they have started giving name to the winter storms that sweep across from Pacific to Atlantic. Not sure how long they have been doing this, but I was amused at the concept. I remember when the news channels first started naming the storms with catchy titles, so I decided to think back on a few memorable winter events here in Northwest Georgia.

SnowJam '82 - This was the first of 'events' that I remember. There was an ice storm in 1972 or 1973 but I don't think there were names. The snow began to fall around 2:00 in the afternoon and by the 5:00 rush hour it was total gridlock. I was working in Buckhead and living on Lenox Road. My normal commute of twenty minutes turned into two hours. The roads were packed and impassable. Cars were sliding here and there out of control and my car was three weeks old. It was chaos. My sister was in downtown Atlanta and it took her ten hours to go seven miles. The city was shut down for days.

The Storm of the Century - In the early 1990's, a major snow event converged over the state. We got 8" of snow in no time at all. It was awesome. We built a snow fort again (1st was in 1985 at a snow event I think was called Winter Storm 85) and skied down the hill in front of our house. Hubby had a 4-wheel drive SUV at the time and we braved the elements to rescue some friends with no heat. The grocery store behind us had no power and we got steaks for pennies from the coolers as they warmed. By noon the next day it was all melted and gone, except for the pictures.

Our Christmas vacation back in 200? we went to Colorado to ski and arrived as a massive storm landed on top of the state. They literally closed the expressway behind us as we drove from Denver to Breckenridge. The skiing was great, but after five days of non-stop snow it actually became a little boring. Never thought I would actually say those words, but too much of a good thing, etc.

Now we have names to contend with. Perhaps that will be easier than the catchy news program names, but I know I will miss the reporter out in the elements with their 'voices of impending doom' regaling us with every possible detail over and over again. If they ever do away with them, I might just swear off television completely!

January Let Down

The holidays are packed away and the weather has gone to the dogs. Yep, it's January again. The start of a brand new year, but the weather sure feels recycled. For some reason January feels like such a month of let downs.

I want to be skiing in Colorado, or swimming in the warmth of the Caribbean but I'm stuck at home wishing for another time and another place. For years helpful hubby and I have used January to rest and start anew. But with so many losses in recent years, January has become the month of not again.

Do you remember being a kid? Do you remember how difficult it was to go back to school after the Christmas Holiday break? That's what I feel like. All the wind is gone from my sails and my thoughts are as frenetic as the weather we are experiencing. What I would do for just one month where the weather and my moods would co-operate.

Perhaps I have a bad case of SAD (seasonal affective disorder)? Lack of sunshine can definitely make me grumpy. I love turning my face to the sun, just like any sunflower soaking up all the Vitamin D I can in the shorter daylight hours.

Well, all things happen, and so January will come around every year. Darn it.

Only 11 Days Until the End of the World?

Well, despite my constant complaining, December keeps rolling along. This month is almost half over, there are fourteen shopping days until Christmas and this year I might still be out there come December 24th. First it has been too hot for shopping. I mean really, how can anyone listen to "Sleigh Ride" or "Winter Wonderland" when it it pushing 80 degrees outside and you have the air conditioning running because the hot flashes are getting help.

Now, it is raining and a long overdue cold front is pushing through the state. Rainy days are good for two things: napping and reading. Nothing else seems to get accomplished when the clouds hang low and grey in the sky. The days are still getting shorter and the people in this town cannot seem to handle driving and rain at the same time. So, rather than scare myself out of five years of life, I elect to stay close to home when it rains.

But the tree is up, and the decorations are out. The dining room table is almost free of the year's worth stuff with no other home and my shopping lists are complete. Starting tomorrow the run to the finish line begins. I know which stores I want to hit, so I can maximum my trips to the mall (I like to park near to exits, for quick escape). I've picked up all my layaway, and there is room in the freezer for Christmas Dinner.

Just a quick note to say I hope everyone is enjoying a happy Holiday season, regardless of what religion you follow. I will have some great news (hopefully) coming up right after the turn of the year, and I will be blog-hopping for New Year's, and raffling some awesome prizes. So take a deep breath and remember - this only comes once a year Thank God!

Tune In Next Week...

 

 

 

Next week I will be among the several hundred authors / bloggers participating in this Blog Hop. I must confess this is my first 'rodeo', so to speak. While I blog quite a bit and on a variety of subjects, this time I am joining others on a topic. I'm excited!

As I have often stated, opinions are personal and not everyone agrees with everyone else.  But that's what makes the world so interesting. Discussing and arguing, freely exchanging ideas, ah the possiblities are endless. But enough about that.

 

What do you love about Autumn and Fall? What does it remind you of? What about reading? Do you think it's a good subject to read? Well, as authors, we are always ready to share our Autumn stories and why we love snuggling in the cold. *wink* Starting on Friday and ending on Oct 22nd, over 200 Authors and Bloggers will share their favorite things about those sexy men we know and love.

And while we do that, we are EACH doing a giveaway. Yep. There will be over 200 giveaways on each blog hosted by that Author or Blogger.

But that's not all....

We have THREE grand prizes. You as a reader can go to EACH blog and comment with your email address and be entered to win. Yep, you can enter over 200 times!

Now what are those prizes?

1st Grand Prize: A Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet

2nd Grand Prize: A $50 Amazon or B&N Gift Card

3rd Grand Prize: A Swag Pack that contains 10+ paperbacks, ebooks, 50+ bookmarks, cover flats, magnets, pens, coffee cozies, and more!

Plus - each blogger will also be doing a drawing for their own give aways

Check back in on November 9th and let's hop around together!

Happy Halloween!!

Just a quick note with my thoughts on the current issues around the country:

1) - Hurricane Sandy - Truly a monster of a storm when you can be affected by the storm more than 1000 miles from the center of the storm. I am glad all my family and friends are safe, and my thoughts and prayers go out to those not as lucky. Having gone through more than a dozen hurricanes in my life, I am glad that another area of the country go socked for a change. (Not really - I hope everyone knows that is only a joke!)

2) - Election 2012 - I promised my family I wouldn't get on a soap box about the elections, so much as I would love to sound off I will only say this. Don't forget to vote. It is a right many people have died protecting. Do not use that right without being informed as to each candidate's positions.

3) - Halloween - I hope everyone has a safe and fun Halloween. The Charlie Brown special has been played, the pumpkin's have been extinguished and I took my grandson in  love out for his first trick or treat. He was dressed as a Transformer. It was magical.

Don't forget to join in on the Autumn's Harvest Blog Hop, sponsored by Carrie Ann's Blog Hops! Be sure to leave a comment to be entered into a drawing to win a $10 Amazon gift card from me, and entered to win the Grand Swag Prize through Carrie Ann. Dates for the hop are November 9th through November 12th.

Spring Planting (Or Replanting?)

Once we decided to do a garden this year, the decision on what to plant was left up to me with hubby's stamp of approval. Corn, beans, peas, tomatoes, watermelons - all standard Georgia garden fare. With the ground prepared and the seeds ready we set out the rows and off to the races we went. All the squashes, beans, peas, melons, in three short hours we had seeded an area more than 1000 square feet. Happy and pleased with a job well done, we headed off for our first week of waiting.

Anxiously I watched the weather report, glad when radar showed rain heading in our general direction. The weekend took forever to come around again. Sunday morning arrived at last and I bounced in the car like a kid on the way to see Santa. Just when I could wait no more, we turned down the street, up the long winding driveway, then past the garden. I could see little green shoots beginning to poke through as we headed to the main house.

Church seemed to drag that morning, and lunch was forever. Just when I thought I would burst from anticipation, we arrived back at the farm. Changing into work clothes I race out to my little slice of heaven to find...

Turnip greens. That's right, turnip greens popping up all over my nicely plotted garden.

Imagine my surprise. Covering the entire garden, in my neat straight rows and in between, anywhere there was a spare inch of fertilized earth, were little turnip green leaves. Apparently the previous fall, for a winter garden, one of the helpers on my father-in-law's farm had planted turnips, harvested the greens but left the turnips themselves in the ground. With the warmer weather and the fertile spring rains, those little suckers just popped right out, heedless to the fact they are winter crops that cannot survive the hot Georgia summers.

So my first full Sunday as a gardener was spent identifying and pulling little turnip greens while trying to not pull up actual seedlings that were wanted. This is when I discovered what a non-outdoors man I married. He couldn't identify weeds from plants, didn't like having to pull so many wrong plants, and within 45 minutes had abandoned me completely to sit on the front porch drinking ice tea while I sweat and pulled and cursed turnips with my every fiber.

I was not amused.

Rain, Sunshine, Warm and Cold - Welcome to Georgia

Having lived in Georgia a majority of my life, I am never surprised by the weather. There is no true 'normal' when it comes to our weather, especially at this time of year. One day it is raining and 65 degrees and the breeze is from the South. Then the wind will blow harder from the North followed closed by sunshine and freezing temps. Take this pattern and repeat for three months and you have Georgia in the winter.

The only good part of winter here? It brings about a glorious spring. When the dogwoods pop out and the azaleas bloom and the breeze from the South bring a hint of warmer days to come there is not a place in the world I would rather be then here. Living for a while in South Florida, I grew inured to the blooming of flowers and the leaves on the trees. Then we were transferred to Atlanta.

We arrived here in the heart of summer, July I believe it was, so the heat and humidity were familiar. Then came fall and the glorious colors I had never experienced before. The crispness in the air and the smell of campfires competed with deep blue sky and a touch of chill in the air from the north. The winds began to blow again, removing the last of the now brown leaves from their perches and reminding us that winter would soon be here again.

Don't get me wrong. I love the beach. I love the touch of a tropical sun on my skin. But I love the change of seasons too, especially the way my city changes along with the seasons. I lived here and there and I've visited around and about but when push comes to shove, North Georgia is my home. Always.

A Hint of Fall in the Air

The past few days have been blissful here in the South. Mornings arrived with a chill and a hint of the coming change of season. They continued as clear days without the wisp of a cloud anywhere in sight until finishing  in glorious color with sunset and the return of a chill. These and many more wonders are the reasons Fall is my favorite time of the year, especially in this neck of the country.

Soon it will be apple festival time and craft fairs and funnel cakes will abound. Friday nights will be for high school football and Saturdays for watching horse shows and playing with my ponies. Sundays are for family and church and catching up. Which will bring up back around to Monday and more work waiting and resting up for Friday again. The cycle of life spinning another year from the threads of life.

I don't tend to get much work done in the fall. Outdoors brings so much more than the house, which I will soon be resigned to when winter begins his reign sooner than I will be ready. But for now, bring me fall. It brings the contentment my heart longs for, the harvest of the summer complete. Time to make preparations for my winter projects.

The years fly past faster every year. The children grow and begin going their own ways. Helpful Hubby and I both grow older and greyer each birthday and Christmas morning gets later every year.

But maybe I am only entering my mid-life crisis. I will accept that. Soon I will be at the jumping off point, and I can feel myself gathering to scream inside. I have a year to get ready for the big one so if I am going to crazy it needs to be soon. Maybe after fall - I can't miss my funnel cake fix.

Spring Excitement - Mother Nature has Menopause

Am I the only one within my generation who thinks the weather is worse now than when we were kids? We had some gully washers and frog strangers back in the late 60's and 70's. But even those did not approach the ferocity of the past several storms which have rocketed across our state in the past months. One group screams "Global Warming!"; while the other side touts Corporate abuses of the Clean Air Act.

I don't pretend to know why our weather is in need of a nice vacation, I only have to worry about weather when my real job interferes with my writing. When the two work together and I have to take time away from writing to fix problems in my reality then I tend to grump. This weekend has been one of those days.

By all appearances Mother Nature has menopause. Really, think about it. Hot flashes, crying jags, moody swings - if these are not symptoms of full blown menopause then I am not a woman! Human women take hormones and anti depressants and any other manner of artificial and natural remedies to deal with their 'change'. What, however, does one give Nature?

Would a large glass of Pinot and a 500,000mg Xanex help? Perhaps a trip to the beach with some girlfriends. Chocolate produces wonderful feelings in human brains, would it would on Mother Nature? Maybe that's why she created cocoa beans in the first place?

So how do we calm a planet wide menopause attack? I don't know, but I sure hope someone figures it out soon!